Admiral Sir Max Horton, (admiral Submarines), Visits the C-in-c Home Fleet

John Charles Keith Dowding

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

DSO (1891–1965) was a British naval officer during the 20th century. He served in both world wars and was awarded the DSO for his actions during the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

. He is best known for being the commodore in charge of the ill-fated Arctic convoy

PQ 17 PQ 17 was the code name for an Allies of World War II, Allied Arctic convoys, Arctic convoy during the Second World War. On 27 June 1942, the ships sailed from Hvalfjörður, Iceland, for the port of Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union. The convoy was ...

Early life

Jack Dowding was born on 1 November 1891 in Dibrugarh,

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

, to Charles and Kathleen Dowding. His father was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

clergyman, who served there before returning to England and residing at

St John's in the Vale St John’s in the Vale is a glacial valley in the Lake District National Park, Cumbria, England. Within the vale are a number of farms and small settlements, in addition to several disused quarry and mining works. St John’s Beck meanders nort ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

.John Charles Keith Dowding at ancestry.com Dowding was educated at

St Bees School , motto_translation = Enter so that you may make progress , established = (reformed 2015–2018) , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religious_affiliation = Church of England , president = , head_label ...

, in what is now

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, and on the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

training ship A training ship is a ship used to train students as sailors. The term is mostly used to describe ships employed by navies to train future officers. Essentially there are two types: those used for training at sea and old hulks used to house classr ...

HMS ''Conway''.Commodore John Charles Keith Dowding
at pwsts.org.uk (Prince of Wales Sea Training School) He became a probationary

midshipman A midshipman is an officer of the lowest rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada (Naval Cadet), Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Afr ...

in the RNR, with seniority from August 1910, and joined the Merchant Navy, earning his Second Mate's certificate in December 1913.

Career

Dowding served in the Royal Navy during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and served on HMS ''Otway'', an

armed merchant cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

with the

10th Cruiser Squadron The 10th Cruiser Squadron, also known as Cruiser Force B was a formation of cruisers of the British Royal Navy from 1913 to 1917 and then again from 1940 to 1946. First formation The squadron was established in July 1913 and allocated to the T ...

, a force employed in the Northern Patrol and responsible for enforcing the

naval blockade of Germany The Blockade of Germany, or the Blockade of Europe, occurred from 1914 to 1919. The prolonged naval blockade was conducted by the Allies during and after World War I in an effort to restrict the maritime supply of goods to the Central Powers, w ...

. He later served as second-in-command to the Commander of Destroyers, first in home waters and later in the Mediterranean. In 1919 he left the Royal Navy and was employed by the Orient Line operating between Britain and Australia.Dowding, John Charles Keith
at unithistories.com (RNR: D'Albiac to Dymoke) With the outbreak of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Dowding was recalled to active service with the rank of

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain. ...

and was appointed to HMS ''Mona's Isle'', a

Manx Manx (; formerly sometimes spelled Manks) is an adjective (and derived noun) describing things or people related to the Isle of Man: * Manx people **Manx surnames * Isle of Man It may also refer to: Languages * Manx language, also known as Manx ...

packet steamer Packet boats were medium-sized boats designed for domestic mail, passenger, and freight transportation in European countries and in North American rivers and canals, some of them steam driven. They were used extensively during the 18th and 19th ...

requisitioned to serve as an armed boarding vessel. In June 1940 she took part in

Operation Dynamo Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the Dunkirk evacuation, making two trips under fire and bringing back over 2,600 troops. For his actions Dowding was awarded the DSO. In December 1940 he was promoted to

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and in April 1941 to Commodore 2nd class, At the same time he was transferred to HMS ''Eaglet'', the shore establishment at

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

responsible for Britain's convoy operations, and served as a

Convoy Commodore Convoy commodore also known as commodore, convoys was the title of a civilian put in charge of the good order of the merchant ships in the British convoys used during World War II. Usually the convoy commodore was a retired naval officer or a seni ...

. Dowding served on several Atlantic convoys and made two trips to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

on the notorious Kola Run. In August 1941 he was commodore to the

Dervish convoy Operation Dervish was the first of the Arctic Convoys of the Second World War by which the Western Allies of World War II, Allies supplied material to the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany. Included in the convoy was the personnel and equipment o ...

, the first supply convoy to the Soviets, returning with the Dervish ships in October in

convoy QP 1 Convoy QP 1 was an Arctic convoy of the PQ/QP series which ran during the Second World War. It was one of a series of convoys run to return Allied ships from Soviet northern ports to home ports in Britain. It sailed in late September 1941, reaching ...

. Both these voyages were accomplished safely and without loss. In late June 1942 he was commodore to

. On 4 July he received the controversial

Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral * Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings *Admiralty, Tr ...

order to scatter the convoy, and it fell to him to carry this out. The result was a catalogue of ship losses over the next few days; Dowding's ship, ''River Afton'', was sunk at midday on 5 July, leaving Dowding and two men on a raft in the icy waters for four hours until rescued by the

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

''Lotus''. He was taken to

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; rus, Но́вая Земля́, p=ˈnovəjə zʲɪmˈlʲa, ) is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, ...

where they gathered up two merchant ships and took them to safety at

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

. Dowding immediately set out in the corvette ''Poppy'' to search for more survivors, eventually gathering a further five ships and the survivors of several more.Schofield p91-94 Two months later Dowding was commodore to the returning QP 14, with the surviving ships from PQ 17; this convoy also came under attack, and Dowding was again cast adrift when his ship, ''Ocean Voice'', was sunk. He was again rescued and returned to the UK, where he was awarded the

. Later Dowding served on the naval staff for

Operation Neptune Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

, the naval component of the

Normandy landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

, first as Staff Flag Officer for the assault area, then as Principal Sea Transport Officer for the Expeditionary Force. He was

Mentioned in Dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...

for this work, and was awarded the Order of the Crown of Belgium for his part in the liberation of that country. His final naval posting was as the Naval Reserve's

ADC ADC may refer to: Science and medicine * ADC (gene), a human gene * AIDS dementia complex, neurological disorder associated with HIV and AIDS * Allyl diglycol carbonate or CR-39, a polymer * Antibody-drug conjugate, a type of anticancer treatment ...

to the king, from September 1945 until his retirement in November 1946.

Later life and death

Jack Dowding died at

Wokingham Wokingham is a market town in Berkshire, England, west of London, southeast of Reading, north of Camberley and west of Bracknell. History Wokingham means 'Wocca's people's home'. Wocca was apparently a Saxon chieftain who may als ...

, in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

, on 13 February 1965.

Notes

References

* Paul Kemp : ''Convoy! Drama in Arctic Waters'' (1993) * Bob Ruegg, Arnold Hague : ''Convoys to Russia'' (1992) * Bernard Schofield, ''The Russian Convoys'' BT Batsford, 1964. ISBN (none)

External links

Commodore JCK Dowding; Obituary
16 Feb 1965

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

p18
John Charles Keith Dowding
at uboat.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Dowding, John 1891 births 1965 deaths Royal Navy officers of World War I Royal Navy officers of World War II Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Recipients of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) Military personnel of British India